Iran International:

Mohammad Javad Zarif, a top presidential aide, has sparked a political firestorm in Tehran with remarks made at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, drawing criticism from hardliners who argue that his comments portray Iran as weak.

After Zarif suggested the country was more open to international diplomacy under the new presidency, including with its archenemy the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Parliament, warned officials to tread carefully in their public statements to avoid emboldening adversaries.

Ghalibaf said that projecting a perception of weakness from Iran’s leadership could prompt “miscalculations by the incoming US administration and worsen economic pressures.”

Iran faces a serious economic crisis, expected to get worse if US President Donald Trump puts more sanctions pressure. As a result, debate is now raging in Tehran as Iran's Supreme Leader has not authorized any new negotiations.

Zarif, a former foreign minister and now Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs, stirred controversy when he suggested in a Wednesday interview with CNN host Fareed Zakaria that if conservative politician Saeed Jalili had been elected president instead of Masoud Pezeshkian last July, a major war might have been underway in the region.

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